Permanently Yours
by xNicoleRose215x
Summary: Bella Swan lives in Forks with her dad Charlie & her not-so-motherly mother Renee. Bella's got more than her fair share of problems. Can newcomer Edward help her rediscover herself, win her heart and help her deal with a shocking secret? ALL HUMAN
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ok, so this is my first FanFic on this site. I know it doesn't seem like much yet but I promise it'll get much better really fast. Please read and review!! Thanks!**

_Standing in the dark wing of stage left, I took a painful breath to try and calm my pounding heart as the last chords of the music that was being played echoed off the walls. The temporarily invisible crowd erupted in cheers over the amateur band that had just finished their performance. The punk-like rockers exited the stage and the host of the contest grabbed a microphone and spoke one short sentence._

"_And now for our final contestant of the night, Isabella Swan."_

"_Shit," I muttered to myself as I watched the man beckon me into the spotlight. I clutched my acoustic guitar in my left hand and slowly stepped forward, ignoring my desire to run the other way._

_The blinding lights forced me to stop walking. I scrunched up my face and used my free hand to shield my eyes. The knot in my stomach twisted even tighter than it already was and I could hear my accelerated heart-rate throbbing in my ears._

_What the fuck am I doing? I can't do this. I don't even have a chance at winning this thing, so why the hell should I put myself through this torture? I _cannot_ do this. My thoughts were leading me towards a major freak-out._

_But I need that money. That prize money could not only pay my way through my fast approaching college years but it could also get me out on my own and away from here. That's why I need to do this. I need to try._

_My eyes scanned the crowd briefly and my heart nearly stopped when I saw her sitting in the third row. Fuck. What the hell is she doing here? She probably came to watch me make a fool out of myself and boo me off the stage. My gaze met hers for one brief moment. Oh yes, I definitely need to try._

_Just as I stepped forward again, I tripped over my own feet. I fell face first on the hard stage, landing on top of my guitar. I heard the slight crunch of breaking wood and the dull tone of the vibrating chords. I sat myself up and peered down at the instrument in front of me._

_There was a small crack radiating from the circular edge of the sound hole. But that wasn't what had the tears welling up in my eyes. Sure, I had no idea how much it would cost to get it fixed, although it was safe to assume that I wouldn't be able to afford it. But that's not why my eyes were stinging with moisture. It was the trill laughter coming from the audience that broke me._

_The whole crowd was in hysterics. People were clutching their sides as the laughter shook their bodies. I was beyond mortified. But to make matters worse, the one voice I truly despised was suddenly louder and clearer than anything else._

"_What are you gonna do, Bella? Cry? God, when are you ever gonna grow up? All you know how to fucking do is turn on the waterworks whenever something goes wrong. I told you this was a waste of time and now you know it. Go ahead and cry. Embarrass yourself even more. Give everyone another reason to laugh at you. Go on, cry!"_

_She stood directly in front of me, staring down at me. I reluctantly looked up at her from my crumpled position on the floor. As I stared back at the livid, amused face of my mother, my tears betrayed me and stained my scarlet cheeks. The pounding of my heart was almost frightening as it resounded in my ears. It was so loud, so fast and so_…

…real.

I woke with a start, covered in a cold sweat, as my mother continued to pound on my bedroom door.

"Isabella Marie, if you don't get your ass out of that bed right now, you'll be grounded for two weeks. No phone, no computer, no friends. Do you hear me? You have a fucking alarm clock; I shouldn't have to give you a personal wake up call. I'm not your goddamn maid. And why the hell is this door locked? Open this door right now! ISABELLA!!" she screamed at me.

I jolted out of bed and over to the door. I unlocked the doorknob and opened it. "I'm up! And for your information, my alarm didn't even go off yet!" I screamed back, although my voice still thick with sleep. My anger was quite evident though.

"Oh, really? Well, what time did you expect to wake up then? Two minutes before you're supposed to be at school?"

Just then, the annoying as hell Miley Cyrus song Party in the U.S.A. filled my room as my clock radio, which was tuned to one of the few good radio stations the tiny dreary town of Forks, WA had to offer, turned itself on as the digital numbers changed to 6:30am.

She narrowed her eyes and sneered, "Get ready for school." She headed down the stairs and I heard the front door slam. Once I heard her car pull out of the driveway and take off down the street, I let out a gut wrenching scream.

I collapsed into a heap on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. What a wonderful way to start off the day. I was barely up for two minutes and I was already a fucking mess. _Thanks, Mom._

After I got a hold of myself, I turned off the radio and ran to go take a shower. I turned the water up as hot as it would go and let it cascade down my body, scalding every inch of me. I stayed in there until it started to run cold. I wrapped a towel around me as I got out and went back to my room to get dressed.

Glancing at the clock, I saw that I'd spent a little too much time in the shower so I quickly grabbed a pair of dark washed jeans and a dark blue v-neck top and threw them on. Then I pulled a white hoodie sweatshirt over my head. I always wore a hoodie when I had a restless night. I needed to be comfortable and have something to snuggle in when I found myself failing to keep my eyes open in class due to the lack of sleep. I rubbed my hair in the towel and ran a brush through it, leaving it down. It was almost dry and already very wavy. I put on a pair of white Nike sneakers, grabbed my bag and my cell phone, ran down the stairs and out the door to my beat up old Chevy truck.

It wasn't much, but the old thing got me around. It was rusty red and quite slow, but I didn't mind. I got in and started it up. It had been a gift from my parents for my seventeenth birthday, which was almost a year ago. My eighteenth birthday was five days away. Actually, I really couldn't say that it was a gift from both of my parents because it was really from my dad; my mother was against me getting any kind of vehicle. In fact, she's against me having any kind of independence at all which is completely fucked up considering the kind of person she is--a hypocritical bitch.

I honestly try to avoid anything that has to do with my mother, Renee; especially thinking about all the ways she's tried to fuck up my life--and all the ways she's succeeded in fucking up my life. About a year and a half after I was born, she took off. Her and my dad Charlie married young. They were so in love, or at least Charlie was. Renee more or less wanted to see what all the hype was about. After a few mere months of marriage, it started to bore her but she got pregnant and figured she'd give the whole mother thing a try, too. Enter me.

Charlie always said I was a good baby, that I was hardly fussy at all. But Renee just didn't seem to take to motherhood all that well. Charlie mostly took care of me while she went out with friends and what not. She couldn't stand to be stuck in the house all day with a baby. One night, Charlie came home from work (he's the Police Chief, by the way) and found her packing, saying she just had to get out of this godforsaken shit hole of a town. Charlie asked her to stay but when she insisted that she couldn't stay anymore, he told her that there was no way in hell she was taking me with her. Little did he know, she never intended to. Renee gave me a kiss goodbye and left. From there on out, it was me and Charlie. I adored him as he did me. We became very close over the years. We had a wonderful father/daughter relationship… _had_.

Renee didn't fall off the face of the earth, though. She'd call Charlie from time to time to find out how I was. She always called and sent me gifts on my birthday and Christmas. She even came to see me on occasion. But I haven't really thought of her as my mother in many, many years. To me, a mother is someone who's around to love you and take care of you your whole life, not just at their convenience. No, in my eyes, I've never really had a mother at all.

Then, three years ago, she came back. I honestly don't know why she did. She just showed up one day and said she wanted to be a part of our lives again. Note the 'our' there. She played into my dad's only weakness. Charlie, for some stupid fucking reason, still harbored feelings for the woman who basically abandoned me and welcomed her back into the house. I haven't felt the same way about my father since that day.

And since that dreadful day, my 'mother' has pretty much tried to take over my life. For someone who couldn't be bothered enough to raise her daughter, she sure as shit had a lot to say about things such as what time my curfew should be, what kind of Sweet 16 party I should have and whether or not I should have my own car. Not to mention she feels the need to constantly pick an argument with me over bullshit. Like the whole alarm thing this morning. I swear, she just can't go five minutes without going psycho on me over something completely stupid. Charlie actually believes that she's here now to make up for lost time because she feels guilty for leaving. Ok, sure. You ever hear the expression "better late than never"? Yeah, fuck it.

I snapped out of the trance I'd apparently been in when I heard a fierce tapping on my window. Alice Brandon, my hyper, fashion crazy, pixie-like best friend was rapping away with a giddy smile on her face. Evidently, I'd driven to school because that's where I was: the school parking lot. _Hmm, I didn't even notice. Nice. I hope I didn't do any damage out on the road._ I grabbed my bag and got out of the truck.

"Hey, Bella!" Alice screeched in her chipper voice. "Holy shit! What the fuck did you do last night? You look like death."

"Gee, Alice. I hadn't noticed. You can thank her majesty for my appearance."

"You had the dream again, didn't you?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," I sighed. "Then she all but broke down my goddamn door this morning."

"Well, don't worry. I'll fix you up during second period. Mrs. Masters isn't in today and we have Mr. Mandia as a sub. So we'll basically have the period free," she rambled on.

"I doubt you'll be able to do anything to fix this, Ali," I replied, gesturing to myself.

"Please, this isn't even a challenge," she scoffed.

We walked over towards her car, a canary yellow Porsche 911 Turbo. Her parents made a very hefty sum in the stock market. They spent pocket change on that car. Standing by the Porsche was the rest of our group. First there was Jasper Whitlock, Alice's blonde-haired hazel-eyed boyfriend. He was from Texas and had a slight southern twang to his voice. He was a sweetheart. Then there was Emmett McCarty. Emmett was like the big brother I never had. He was huge, really buff and the star of the Forks High football team. But, he also had a really tender side and gave the tighest yet softest hugs. He reminded me of a giant teddy bear. Finally there was his girlfriend, Rosalie Hale. Rose was, well, more gorgeous than a fucking supermodel. Her long blonde hair was always perfect, her skin was completely flawless and she had the most amazing body. She had all the guys drooling over her and all the girls wanting to kill her for being so hott.

Unfortunately, I was the odd-man-out in our group. I didn't have a boyfriend. I went on a couple of dates back in 9th grade but that was it. It's not like anyone was really interested in me anyway. I wasn't anything great to look at. I had long brown hair and dark chocolate brown eyes. I was a size 4 and didn't really care about putting on makeup. That's it. I was nothing special. Whatever. I didn't need a boyfriend. But still… I couldn't help but be a little jealous of the way Emmett would wrap his arm around Rosalie's shoulder as they walked through the halls at school or they way Jasper held Alice's hand while he was driving. _Is it really that wrong of me to want someone, too?_

I shook my head to clear it as Alice and I approached the others, but I couldn't help but feel just a tiny pain in my heart as she slid herself into Jasper's waiting arms. I had to stop this train of thought.

"Hey, guys. Whatcha doing?" I asked.

"We were actually just talking about the new kid. He's starting today. This should be interesting," Emmett said.

With Forks being the tiny town that it is, word travels very quickly. So the news of the new surgeon at Forks University Hospital moving here with his wife and teenage son spread like wildfire. This new kid was apparently a Senior like the rest of us.

"Do you think he's good looking?" Alice asked.

"Why? You shopping around for a new man?" Jasper cocked an eyebrow at her.

Alice giggled, "Of course not. But maybe he'd be good for Bella."

"Alice, don't you dare even start," I warned. "I'm serious. I don't want a boyfriend." _Liar._

"We'll see, Bells."

The warning bell rang, leaving us with five minutes to get to our first class. I went to put my cell on vibrate but I couldn't find it in my bag. The others started walking towards the building. They all turned around when I didn't follow.

"You guys go ahead. I think my phone fell out in my truck. I'll see you later."

I went back to my truck and opened the driver's side door. I leaned in and looked on the seat. I didn't see my phone. As I bent down to look for it on the floor, I heard a car pull into the parking lot and a car door slam. I saw my phone under the seat and pulled it out. As I started to straighten up, I saw a shiny silver Volvo parked next to my ratty old truck through the passenger side window. _Who at this school drives a friggin Volvo?_ It took me a second to realize that no one did, which could only mean one thing: the new guy.

I completely forgot that I was still leaning in the doorway of my truck and stood up really quickly, almost succeeding in not hitting my head but of course being the klutz that I am, not succeeding after all. And boy, did I hit it hard. As I felt the sudden sting and throbbing pain on the top of my head, everything started spinning. I knew I was going to pass out and I just prayed that I didn't hit another part of my body as I went down; I bruise quite easily. I felt myself falling. The last thing I saw before the darkness surrounded me were flashes of the most gorgeous colors of bronze and green I'd ever seen.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok, so I'm still getting the hang of this site so I apologize for not really explaining anything last time. I was just focusing on getting the first chapter up. So here's all you need to know:**

**-This story is all human, obviously. No mythical creatures involved.**

**-Yes, Renee is a nasty bitch in my story. She practically lives to make Bella's life hell. You'll get more info on that when Bella discloses those things to Edward.**

**-Although the characters are based on Stephenie Meyer's, I have made them like people in my life. Bella is me. She is a song/storywriter who can sing and play guitar. The only thing I don't do from that list is play guitar, even though I really want to learn. Renee is based on my mom. I'll get into that a bit more at a later date. I'm sure you get it by now though. Pretty much everybody is based on somebody in my life. Charlie is my dad, Alice is my best friend Stephanie, etc., etc. The only one not based on someone is Edward. He is simply what I write him to be.**

**-I have a pretty dirty vocabulary sometimes so consider yourself warned.**

**If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Any and all feedback is welcomed; even flames.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, much to my dismay. I'm just borrowing her characters.**

Chapter 2

I knew I was coming to when I started to feel the pain on top of my head again. Surprisingly though, I wasn't chilly from lying on the cold ground for God knows how long. Instead, I felt kind of warm. I was definitely still outside though, because the late October air stung my cheeks as the wind blew around me. But there was no way I was out cold on the ground. I decided I needed to open my eyes and see why this was so confusing.

I opened my eyes slowly and blinked several times to bring everything back into focus. Big mistake on my part, because what I saw nearly made me have a heart attack. _Holy shit. _Looking down at me was the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. If you Googled "Greek gods," his picture would be the first one to pop up. He was stunningly handsome; so much so that I'm sure my panties dampened a little. His creamy complexion was absolutely flawless. His gorgeous bronze hair was perfectly tousled and his eyes were the most heart-stopping emerald green. _Hmm, bronze and green… Where have I--oh no!_ He saw me knock myself out. This beautiful creature watched me knock myself upside the head so hard that I passed out. Great. _Fuck, fuck, fuck! When am I ever going to stop being such a damn klutz?_

The mouth-watering creature was still staring down at me with concern in his eyes. Then he spoke… and my eyes nearly rolled back in my head at the sound. "Hey, are you all right?" he asked. His voice was like velvet and almost sounded musical. It was entrancing to say the least. I didn't respond to his question. Instead, I just stared up at him, completely at a loss for words. I stayed like that for a good minute. _Say something, you idiot!_ Words were still failing me, however, so I forced myself to nod my head. "Are you sure?" he asked me. All I could manage was a nod again.

By this point, he realized that I was staring at him. I tried to pry my eyes away from him but it just wasn't possible; he was too pretty. Then he did something that nearly sent me into convulsions. He smiled the most breathtakingly beautiful crooked smile at me. _Oh, so he's a cocky bastard, is he? He obviously knows he's drop-dead gorgeous. How could he not?_ That amazing smile of his was downright hypnotizing. It would have knocked me off my feet, had I been standing.

That thought suddenly made me realize that I was still on the ground, or more specifically, in his arms. _Holy fuck!_ This beautiful Adonis had his warm, strong arms around me, plain old Bella Swan. I started to wonder if maybe this was all a set up. Perhaps Ashton Kutcher was going to run out any second and say, "Hey! You just got punk'd!" That would make more sense than if this was actually happening. Yet, the angel was really here, smiling at me.

As the torturous blush stained my cheeks, I dropped my gaze from his face and shifted my body in his arms. I finally found my voice and said, "Umm, can I get up now?" _Nice one, Swan._ I saw his smile fade slightly out of the corner of my eye.

"Are you sure? You hit your head pretty hard." _Yes, the throbbing pain in my skull has made me quite aware of that._

"Yeah, I'm ok."

He shifted so that I was no longer leaning on him and stood up. He held out his hands to help me up and I took them. Once I was upright, my head started swimming and I swayed on the spot. He noticed this and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him until I was leaning against him again. We stayed like that for a few long seconds.

He looked down at me. "Better?" he whispered.

"Yes. Thank you," I breathed. I slowly supported myself on my own and reluctantly pulled away from him. "Umm, how long was I out for?"

"Just under two minutes. I don't think it's that bad. You're not bleeding. You'll probably have a bump though."

"Yeah, well that's nothing new."

"This happens to you a lot?" he asked, smirking.

"Daily, actually. I'm the biggest klutz around. I'm the only person I know who can successfully trip while walking across a flat surface." I had no idea why I was telling him this, but I didn't seem to care that I was broadcasting my flaws to this beautiful stranger.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to make sure you don't hurt yourself too much," he chuckled. _Wait, what?_ All I could do was chuckle back. "I'm Edward. Edward Cullen." He smiled widely again.

"B-Bella Swan," I stuttered.

He reached for my hand and pulled it to his lips, placing a quick kiss on the back of it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella." He let go of my hand and walked off towards the school. _Oh. My. God. Did he really just do that? Yes, yes he did._

I walked off really slowly towards the building in a complete daze, still not sure if any of that actually happened. I made it into my first period class, American History, about five minutes late, earning a disapproving glance from the teacher. I had this class with Jasper and he most definitely noticed the spaced out look on my face when I walked in and took my seat.

A few minutes later, while the teacher was distracted, I felt something hit me on the shoulder. I turned around just as a crumpled piece of paper fell to the floor and saw Jazz looking at me. "Answer your phone," he mouthed at me. It was then that I realized that my phone was vibrating in the pocket of my hoodie. I didn't remember putting it in there. _He must have done it._ I flipped my phone open under the desk and read the text I'd received.

_B-_

_U ok? U don't look so good._

_-J_

I answered him back.

_J-_

_Yea, I just practically gave myself a concussion & I'm still seeing stars. Fine though. Oh & I met the new kid._

_-B_

I figured I'd just say it as nonchalantly as possible. But I knew he'd flip. My cell buzzed again.

_B-_

_WTF?!?! R u serious? What happened?_

_-J_

I turned around to look at him. I shook my head and mouthed, "Later." He nodded slightly and I turned back around.

Barely even thirty seconds later, my phone buzzed again. I snapped out of my daze as I saw who it was from. _Goddamn it!_ It was Alice and naturally, it was four texts long.

_B-_

_WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?! U met the new guy w/o me??? How could u? U didn't embarrass urself, did u? What's his name? Is he hott? Did he say nething? What's he like? Does he have good taste in clothes? Holy shit. I can't believe u met him already! I didn't even get the chance 2 beautify u yet! I wanna kno everything!!!_

_-A_

My fingers frantically typed away on the little keys and I sent two messages. The first was to Jasper.

_J-_

_U fucker. Thanks 4 ratting me out 2 the pixie! U r so gonna pay 4 this._

_-B_

I glared back in his direction and saw his eyes widened in fear as he read my text. He knew I meant business. The second text I sent was to Alice.

_A-_

_There's only 23 mins left till next period. U can wait._

_-B_

Not wanting to deal with her objections, I turned off my phone. I absentmindedly scribbled in my notebook for the rest of the class. When the bell rang, I groaned at the thought of facing Alice. Jasper darted out of the room before I could even put my book away. _Smart move, my friend._ I slowly made my way out of the room and went to my next class.

Sure enough Mr. Mandia, the most laid back substitute teacher Forks High had on the payroll, was sitting at what was normally Mrs. Masters' desk reading the newspaper. As the bell rang, I noticed that most of the class wasn't even there and those who were decided to use the free time wisely and sleep.

Alice came flitting towards me like friggin Tinker Bell on speed. "Ok, spill. What the fuck happened? How did you meet him? Is he a looker or not?"

"Alice, calm the fuck down before I smack you." I walked over to an empty seat in the back of the room and she followed me. Once I got settled, I turned to her and gave her the details she was so desperately craving. "Ok, so his name is Edward Cullen. He's got bronze hair, gorgeous green eyes, a smoking hott body and the most amazing panty-dropping smile I've ever fucking seen." I sighed as an image of him flashed through my mind.

"Oh my God, Bella! You've already got it bad for this guy!" Alice squealed as quietly as she could without drawing attention to us.

"I do not," I snapped at her. "You asked for the details; I'm just giving you details."

"Ok, so what happened exactly?" I flushed scarlet at the memory and it didn't go unnoticed. "Shit, Bella. What?"

"Well, I kind of, um… I kind of passed out," I mumbled.

"From seeing him?!"

"No, from hitting my head on the roof of my truck. I stood up too fast and didn't clear the doorway. Anyway, I basically knocked myself out and when I came to, I was on the ground… in his arms." I blushed even more.

Alice's eyes were about to bug out of her head. "Oh my God. Then what?"

"Then, I practically drooled over how freaking gorgeous he is once I could see straight again. He asked me if I was okay and I nearly passed out again at the sound of his voice. It's so, I don't know, musical almost. Of course, he then chose to smile at me and I swear I almost lost it. The boy like puts you in a trance with his deadly good looks."

"Wow. That was quite an encounter. Did anything else happen that I should know about?

"Umm, yeah. One more thing… he, well, he introduced himself and I did the same and then…" It felt like all the blood in my body took up a permanent residence in my cheeks.

"Oh just spit it out, Bella."

"He kissed my hand and said it was a pleasure to meet me." I rushed the words out of my mouth as fast as I could. I was fully expecting Alice to scream at the top of her lungs in excitement but instead she surprised me. She looked as though she was about to keel over from that last piece of information.

She suddenly whisked me out of the classroom and into the nearest bathroom, where she instructed me to sit down, shut up and do as I was told. I obliged and let her work her magic. After almost twenty minutes of torture, she finally finished and allowed me to look at myself in the mirror. The foundation she'd applied made my skin look clear and smooth. The gloss she'd put on my lips made them look rather juicy. She had swept a very pale blue eye shadow over my eyelids that went very well with my top, which was now visible because my hoodie was tossed aside. She also applied some black eyeliner and mascara. All these little touches were very subtle; Alice always did what she could to "enhance natural beauty". Somehow, she also managed to style my hair in a cascade of curls around my shoulders. The girl was a genius.

As I surveyed my appearance, I couldn't help but notice the goofy smile on my face. _Who is this girl? This sure as hell isn't me. I wouldn't be so giddy about a guy who could never be interested in me that way._ And yet, as much as I wanted to fight it, I couldn't stop the giddiness from consuming me. I turned to Alice and gave her a tight hug.

"Damn, girl. If he was smitten with you before, just wait till he sees you now!" she exclaimed. "Do you think he'll be in any of your classes?"

"I really hope so," I replied. "God, Alice! What's gotten into me?"

She giggled, "Like I said, Bella. You've got it bad for him already." The bell rang to signal the end of class. Alice swatted my ass and said, "Go get 'em, Tiger."

The two of us went our separate ways and I sat through third, fourth and fifth period without so much as a glimpse of the Greek god. By the time I got to my English Lit. class sixth period, I was starting to doubt whether or not this mysterious newcomer even existed. I was just about to convince myself that I had dreamt the whole thing in the parking lot when the last student entered the classroom and settled his beautiful green eyes on me.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi there. Thanks for all the Alerts and reviews; I appreciate it. I love to hear what you have to say! Special shout-out to my girl Kristin! Your reviews always make me smile and laugh uncontrollably. lmao The rest of you should check out her story: Save Me by kristinx0. You can find it in my Favorite Stories list. It's amazing! Now, I just wanted to tell all of you that I'm going to be changing the title of this story. I've decided to go in a different direction with it later on and the new title I've chosen sounds a lot better to me. So right before I post the next chapter (that way people can hopefully read this note and not get confused as to why the title's different), I will be changing the title to ****Permanently Yours****. The new title may not make too much sense to you right now, but trust me, it will in time.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

EPOV

_Bella. Bella Swan._ I couldn't stop saying her name over and over again in my head. It was the perfect name for such a beautiful angel. _Bella._

It was weird; I had never felt such a strong attraction to a girl before. It was much deeper than just a physical attraction though. It was like some invisible force was pulling me to her almost as instantly as I saw her. My first glimpse of her was from behind as she was leaning inside her truck. I was just a few steps past where she was when I quickly glanced back towards my car. That's when I saw her. I was completely captivated by her already--and I hadn't even seen her face yet. She just looked so beautiful in her jeans and hoodie with her long mahogany hair flowing loosely down her back. Naturally, being a guy, my eyes wandered to her cute little ass and lingered there for a second. Hey, I can't help it.

I wanted to go over and talk to her so badly, but I wasn't sure if I should or not. Then, I heard the thud of her head hitting the doorframe of her truck. It sounded like she hit it pretty hard. I made my way towards her as she staggered a bit, intending to ask her if she was all right. Before I could get close enough to speak, she fell to the ground and I rushed forward to catch her before she made contact with the pavement. She was out cold and immediately a surge of panic swept through me.

I carefully lowered her to the ground and sat down with her tiny frame leaning into me. I kept my arms around her; it felt right to hold her in my arms. After making sure that she wasn't bleeding and that her breathing was good, I breathed a sigh of relief. I noticed her cell phone on the ground so I picked it up and placed it in the pocket of her hoodie. I fought the urge to add my number to her contact list. As I waited for her to wake up, my eyes roamed over the rest of her, committing it all to memory. She was absolutely gorgeous. Her beautiful heart-shaped face looked so peaceful, even under the circumstances of why she was now lying unconscious. Her creamy skin was radiant. She had the cutest little nose and her plump pink lips looked so soft. I desperately wanted to touch them; kiss them. However, I knew that it wasn't the right time to do that. Maybe someday. _Yeah, someday real soon._ I wanted her to wake up so I could see what color her eyes were; I guessed brown. I also longed to hear her voice and see her smile. As all these thoughts raced through my head, the angel stirred in my arms.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open and focused on my face. _Yup. Brown. Chocolate brown… and so beautiful._ She stared at me wide-eyed for an immeasurable moment before I finally got up the nerve to talk to her. "Hey, are you all right?" I asked her. She didn't respond; she just continued to stare. After what seemed like forever, she finally gave me a little nod. "Are you sure?" I pressed. She nodded again.

It finally dawned on me that she was staring at me because she was checking me out. I'm no idiot; I know that girls think I'm drop dead gorgeous but just because I can, apparently, "get any girl I want," doesn't mean I take advantage of it. Girls who are only interested in my looks don't appeal to me at all. It usually annoys the hell out of me to have girls drooling over me. However, I didn't mind at all that this precious creature couldn't take her eyes off me.

With my eyes still locked with hers, I flashed her my best smile. Her eyes widened a little bit more. Then, just when I thought she couldn't possibly get any more beautiful, she blushed. The color was lovely on her face. Her cheeks burned scarlet and her eyes dropped to her lap. She knew that I caught her staring and was embarrassed by it. _Sweetheart, I've been memorizing every single detail of your gorgeous face for the last two minutes so that I can see you every time I close my eyes. I'm still doing it, and I'm actually surprised that I haven't creeped you out by now._

She shifted slightly in my arms and spoke for the first time. "Umm, can I get up now?" The sound of her voice made my heart skip a beat. My face fell a little at her request to get up. I didn't want to let her go… ever.

"Are you sure? You hit your head pretty hard." _Please don't get up yet._

"Yeah, I'm ok," she replied. Well, I couldn't deny this goddess anything.

I shifted us so that I could stand up, then I held my hands out to help her up. Once she was on her feet, she began to sway and almost fell over again. I quickly wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close to me, holding her steady. It felt so right to have her warm body pressed against mine. _For Christ's sake, man, now's not the time to be thinking about shit like this!_ I held her like that for a few long moments.

I looked down at her and met her breathtaking chocolate eyes again. "Better?" I whispered.

"Yes. Thank you," she breathed. She slowly supported herself on her own two feet and pulled away from me, much to my dismay. "Umm, how long was I out for?"

"Just under two minutes. I don't think it's that bad. You're not bleeding. You'll probably have a bump though." _Although, I would prefer to have you walk away from this completely unscathed… with my your delicate hand in mine._

"Yeah, well that's nothing new." This information amused me.

"This happens to you a lot?" I asked, unable to hide my smirk.

"Daily, actually. I'm the biggest klutz around. I'm the only person I know who can successfully trip while walking across a flat surface." She seemed to be slightly embarrassed as she described her clumsy nature to me, but still told me nonetheless. I decided to use this new information to my advantage and turned on the charm to gauge the type of reaction she would have.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to make sure you don't hurt yourself too much," I chuckled. Her eyes nearly doubled in size yet again. _Yes!! I've definitely got her attention now._ She nervously chuckled back. "I'm Edward. Edward Cullen," I told her, smiling again.

"B-Bella Swan," she stuttered. _Finally! A name for this magnificent creature!_

I reached for her hand and pulled it to my lips and placed a quick kiss on the back of it. Her skin was so soft and silky. I wanted so desperately to kiss every inch of her, especially her succulent lips. Sadly though, that wasn't an option at the moment. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella." I already loved saying her name. It took all of my willpower to let go of her hand and I reluctantly walked off towards the school with the image of the angel named Bella still in my mind.

I spent my first five classes in a sour mood because my Bella was nowhere to be seen. _Hmm, my Bella. _My_ Bella. I like the sound of that._ I was so completely captivated by this beautiful girl that I made it my mission to make her mine. What reinforced that decision was a girl by the name of Jessica Stanley, who sat next to me during fifth period Trigonometry. Unfortunately, most of the classrooms in this school had tables similar to lab benches as opposed to individual desks, so students were clustered together in groups of three. I sat on the end and although the other end seat was available, this girl naturally sat right next to me. She was like the poster girl for the type of females I truly despise.

"Hi! I'm Jessica Stanley. You're the new guy, right?" she said, while batting her eyelashes at me.

I groaned internally as I answered her. "Yes, I am. I'm Edward Cullen."

"Ooo, that's such a nice name. So Edward," _I already couldn't stand the way she said my name_, "do you have a girlfriend?" Well, that didn't take long.

"Not at the moment." And thankfully, the teacher chose that moment to walk in and give a pop quiz. He told me to do the best that I could and that he wouldn't count it towards my grade if I didn't do well on it. I didn't mind; I've always been really good in math. I was one of the first ones finished and the teacher graded it on the spot when I handed it in. _98%… not bad._ The teacher looked impressed. I sat back down and waited for everyone else to finish. Jessica nonchalantly scooted closer and closer to me every few minutes until she was practically sitting on top of me. I held my tongue so as not to be blatantly rude.

The rest of the class was almost uneventful, but Jessica just _had_ to try something. She slipped me a tiny piece of paper just before the bell rang. Of course it had her phone number on it. I just couldn't resist messing with her because I really didn't want this to become a habit. I flashed her a small smile, then ripped off a small piece of paper out of my notebook. I pretended to write on it when actually, I wrote on the bottom of the paper she gave me, "Sorry, I'm just not interested." As the bell rang, I slipped the paper back to her and left the room in a hurry. I made my way to my sixth period English Lit. class, desperately hoping that my Bella would be there. I nearly got down on my hands and knees to thank God when I saw that she was.

There she was, sitting towards the back of the room with an open seat next to her. _Thank you, God! Really, thank you!_ I smiled at her when she met my eyes and she immediately blushed and looked away. I handed my slip to the teacher and she told me to pick a seat, so I did. I walked right up to Bella and asked, "Is this seat taken?"

Her cheeks burned a little brighter but she answered in a strong voice, "No. Go ahead."

I sat down next to her and asked, "How's your head?" The flames on her face ignited yet again.

"It's fine. Thank you again for making sure I was ok. You probably got to your first class late because of me."

"I didn't mind. To be honest, all the classes I've had so far were boring as hell. It was all I could do to stay awake." I really wanted to hear her laugh. It probably sounds as lovely as her voice.

I got my wish. My angel let out the sweetest laugh I've ever heard. "I know what you mean. Things aren't that exciting here. I hope Forks High hasn't bestowed a bad first impression on you, though."

"No, so far, so good… except I really don't know if I'll be able to stand my Trig class." I mumbled the last part to myself but she caught it.

"When do you have Trig?"

"Fifth period." After a second, she started hysterically laughing. Although the sound was wonderful, I was more than a little bit confused.

"You have Jessica in your class," she chuckled.

I chuckled too, now understanding. "Yeah, I do. She sat next to me."

"So what did she do? Try to grope you under the table?" Bella was still laughing, but her voice seemed to take on a new edge.

"Pretty much. And she tried to slip me her number."

That stopped her laughter in its tracks. "What do you mean _tried_?"

"I gave it back to her and said I wasn't interested." Bella's mouth dropped open. "What?"

She shook her head slightly to clear it. "Nobody says 'no' to Jessica 'I'm-so-hot' Stanley. You just put yourself on her shit list. Now one of two things is going to happen. Either she'll keep pursuing you every chance she gets or she'll make it so that no girl in town will ever want to go out with you. She'll tell them that you've got an STD or that you're gay or something and trust me, they'll believe her. She's _that_ popular. I'm guessing she'll go with Option A though. She's a first-class bitch who almost always gets what she wants."

I stared at Bella after her in depth description of Jessica Stanley. I prayed that this girl wouldn't make my life hell; not that I'm interested in any girl except my Bella, but I really don't want her hanging all over me. Then, something about Bella's last statement caught my attention.

"You said she _'almost always'_ gets what she wants. Why not 'always?'" I inquired.

A smug smirk settled on her face. "Because when she goes up against me, I _always_ win."

_Wait, what?!?! What does she mean by that? Is she insinuating that she'll fight Jessica for me if she has to? Or am I just reading too much into this? Get a grip, Cullen._

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Jessica makes it her mission to manipulate others into doing what she wants them to do and she's really good at it. But I just don't put up with it. I'm not interested in being popular or even liked so therefore, I refuse to bow down to her and she knows it. My best friends are the same way. We just don't give a shit about her and she pretty much stays away from us because of it. Of course, we trade insults practically on a daily basis but other than that, we just ignore each other."

I laughed at her obvious distaste for the girl a little too loudly. A few people turned to look at me and it was only then that I noticed there were a bunch of notes on the board that I was supposed to be copying while the teacher, Mrs. Southard, was talking about Shakespeare. I pulled out my notebook and started writing. I turned back to Bella and smiled.

"If that's an accurate description of your combative attitude towards others, remind me to never get on your bad side," I murmured to her.

She blushed slightly and dropped her head. It looked like something was bothering her. _Was it something I said?_ "Just because I don't put up with Jessica's crap, doesn't mean it applies to others," she whispered almost inaudibly. She let out a small sigh and I wondered what could be causing this beautiful angel so much anguish. She abruptly changed the topic before I could attempt to find out. "So, back to your Trig problem…"

"What about it?" I asked, my brows furrowed.

"How good are you in math?"

"Really good, actually. I always have been. We just had a pop quiz today and although it's only my first day, I knew most of the material and got a 98 on it."

"Good. Then you should transfer into my Pre-Calc class. It's at the same time so it's a perfect switch. It'll get you away from Jessica. Plus, you'll be in another class we me." The last part came out in a hushed whisper and somewhat nervously, as if she was afraid that I wouldn't want to be in another class with her.

"That sounds great. I'll go to the office after school to ask if I can." She looked at me and I gave her my best smile again. Her eyes seemed to lose their focus for a brief second before she responded by smiling back and blushing, of course.

Class was almost over and I found myself wishing time would just stop so that I could stay by her side. I was lost in my thoughts of how great it would be for us to have more classes together when she said, "Let me see your schedule." I snapped out of my reverie and complied, passing her my schedule. A huge smile broke out on her face as she scanned the page, then she seemed embarrassed by her facial outburst and tried to hide it from me.

"What?" I asked.

"We have lunch and Biology together after this," she replied. _Wow, talk about wishful thinking._

I couldn't stop the shit-eating grin that glued itself to my face, nor did I want to. "Great." _That's it? You can't come up with anything better than that, you moron?_ Nope, I was too busy staring at her, admiring her radiant beauty and anticipating more time with her, to come up with anything else to say.

As the bell rang, Bella stood up and gathered her things. I wanted to offer to carry her bag for her, but I didn't want to seem to forward. Then again, I was raised right.

"Let me get that for you," I said, gesturing to her bag.

She flushed crimson as she said, "Umm, thanks but I'm ok."

"Really, I don't mind." She stared at my outstretched hand for a second, then relinquished her bag to me. Her head ducked down and I could have swore I say a small smile dance on her lips before she turned away and led me in the direction of the cafeteria.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone!!! Ok, so I know many of you are probably waiting to throw rocks and vegetables and thirsty, nomadic vampires at me so go ahead. I deserve it. I'm so sorry for completely falling off the face of the earth, even after the A/N I posted the week before Christmas. Things didn't calm down as much as I thought they would as soon as school finished. But I'm here now! I only hope you're still hanging in there, too. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!! And now, FINALLY, here is a new chapter of Permanently Yours (I'll just say this one more time, for those of you who might not know, I changed the title of this story. It used to be The Reason is You)!!!!**

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BPOV

_Oh my God! I can't believe he offered to carry my bag for me! That's so sweet, but who does that these days? Certainly no guy I've ever known… until now._ He walked by my side as I led him towards the cafeteria, stealing glances at me along the way. Every time I looked up and saw his eyes on me, my cheeks flamed up. _Cursed blush._

We were just outside the double doors of the cafeteria when I stopped abruptly. _Is he going to sit with the gang and I for lunch? Or is he going to sit somewhere else? Ok, breathe Bella. Just ask him._ "Umm, would you like to sit with my friends and I?" I mumbled almost inaudibly.

He flashed me that crooked smile that he seemed to know has an effect on me and said, "I'd love to." _Ok, then. Time to prepare him._

"Well, in that case, I feel that it is my civic duty to warn you about what you're getting yourself into. You see, my friends can be a bit overwhelming at first but I assure you, they're harmless; except, maybe, for Alice. She's kind of--well, just brace yourself. And even though just looking at Emmett will probably scare the crap out of you, trust me, Alice is the only one you need to be worried about. Ok?" I bit my bottom lip waiting for his response.

He looked at me with a somewhat confused expression but replied, "Ok…"

I nodded and pushed open the door in front of me. Immediately, the eyes of everyone in the damn room were on us. I felt my face flush red out of embarrassment and anger.

"Umm, Bella, why is everyone staring at us?" Edward whispered to me.

_Because they're all a bunch of dipshits; what do you want me to tell you?_

"Because they're confused as to why you're with me and pissed at me for talking to you," I sighed. "Practically everyone at this school hates me and they think you're committing social suicide by hanging around me. I don't care what they think about me, though; I've got all the friends I need--right over there," I said, pointing to the table in the far corner of the room where Alice, Jazz, Rose and Em were all sitting, smiling like fools. _Way to be subtle, guys._ Obviously Rose and Emmett had been brought up to speed on my parking lot introduction with Edward. Once again, my cheeks burned red as I saw their faces and I wanted nothing more than to go over and smack the stupid-ass smiles right off all four of their faces.

I exhaled sharply and mumbled to Edward, "C'mon."

As we walked towards the table, I glared daggers at my four best friends in an attempt to keep them under control. _Please let them behave themselves._ I should have known, however, that it wouldn't work on Alice. She darted over to us so quickly that I didn't even have time to see a blur.

"Hi! I'm Alice Brandon, Bella's best friend. It's a pleasure to meet you, Edward. Would you like to sit with us? We'd all love it if you did. I know Bella would…" She was talking so fast, I almost had trouble understanding her which is really saying something because I'm usually the only one who can comprehend what she's squealing about when she goes off on one of her overexcited rants. Like I said, she's like Tinkerbell on speed. But I did catch the end of her little speech.

"Alice!" I hissed at her. She completely ignored me and continued waiting for Edward to answer her.

"Uhh, Bella actually already invited me to sit with you so sure, I'd love to," Edward replied as Alice started to drag him towards the table.

When we reached the others, Alice made the introductions. "Edward Cullen, this is Jasper Whitlock, Rosalie Hale and Emmett McCarty. Have a seat. You can sit right here, next to Bella," she said, gesturing to a chair that had been added to our table. _That's it, you stupid pixie; you're dead._

"Alice, could I speak to you for a second?" I asked, grabbing her arm and taking her with me before she had the chance to answer. Once we were halfway across the cafeteria, I let her go and hissed under my breath, "What the hell are you doing, pixie?!"

"I'm trying to help move things along, Bella. It's obvious that the two of you are smitten with each other. You should appreciate my assistance." _Assistance my ass._

"Even if your assistance is making me look like a pathetic idiot?"

She scoffed and was about to voice what I'm sure would have been a very sarcastic reply, but stopped when she heard a familiar whistle that made us both turn around and rest our eyes on the source: Rosalie. Alice's eyes searched for the trouble Rosalie was alerting us to. I saw Rose glaring at something and immediately found the cause--Jessica Stanley was marching towards our table, or stalking towards Edward to be exact, with a vindictive look on her face. _This should be fun._

"Oh, shit. What does the skank want now?" Alice growled.

"Probably to rip Edward a new one for walking in with me after pricelessly turning her down. C'mon." I darted back to the table with Alice on my heels and we got there just as Jessica decided to direct her attack towards me instead.

"What the hell do you think you're doing walking around with Edward, Swan?" she spat at me.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see 'Property of Jessi-skank Stanley' stamped on his forehead," I spat back.

"What makes you think he even wants you hanging around him?"

"You know, you're right. He probably wants to spend all of his time with you. Why don't you go wait for him to call you?" That really pushed her buttons.

"You better watch it, Swan!"

"Or what?" I hissed. "You're forgetting who you're having it out with, Jessica. I'm not afraid of you. You can't hurt me."

"We'll see about that, you bitch!"

"Bring it on, slut!"

"Is there a problem here?!" _Who the hell was that?_

Jessica and I turned to see my Biology teacher, Mr. Molina, staring at us… along with the rest of the cafeteria.

"Well?" he asked.

"No, Mr. Molina," I answered.

"Well then, why don't you both--"

"Actually, there is a problem," Jessica interrupted. _Oh, bring it on, bitch._ "I was just minding my own business when Bella randomly in--"

"Invited you to join her and her friends for lunch? Well, that certainly was nice of her. However, you being socially inept, Miss Stanley, does not give you the right to go off on Miss Swan the way you did." _Ha ha. Go, Molina!_

"But--"

"And if you ever insult Miss Swan or anyone else for that matter in my presence again, I will personally call your parents for you as you're on your way to the principal's office. Now, run along," Mr. Molina concluded. _Thank you, Lord, for my kick-ass Bio teacher!_

"You've got to be kidding me!" her Royal Bitchiness whined.

"I said shoo!" Jessica turned and stomped away while half of the present student body erupted in cheers.

Mr. Molina turned to me and said, "I'll see you in class next period, Miss Swan." Then he winked at me and walked away. A huge grin grew on my face.

I turned my attention towards the table where my friends were sitting and was met with a curious pair of drop-dead gorgeous emerald green eyes staring at me. _Oh, for the love of God._

"Who was that?" Edward asked me.

"That would be our totally awesome Biology teacher," I replied, smiling. I sat down in the only available seat, which was right next to Edward, of course.

"Hmm, is it wrong for me to think he's the shit already without actually having been in one of his classes yet?" he asked, grinning.

I chuckled and replied, "Not at all. Molina _is_ the shit. He's the coolest teacher in the whole school and I can honestly say that my day would completely suck if I didn't have his class to look forward to."

"Yeah, I can see what you mean. But, I have to say, having him as a teacher isn't what's got me looking forward to next period, Bella." And naturally, he chose then to smile crookedly at me.

I gaped at him for a few long seconds in response to his words, as well as his beautifulness, before my cheeks caught on fire and I averted my gaze to the tabletop. Fortunately, I was saved from having to speak because Alice started her interrogating. She asked him things like where he moved from, when his birthday is, what his hobbies are, and I learned that the answers to those questions were Chicago, June 20th, and playing the piano; this last one sparked my interest.

"You play?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Do you?" he inquired, smiling at me.

"A little," I mumbled.

"So, Edward, what are your parents like? We heard your dad is a new doctor at the hospital," Jasper said.

"Oh, uh yeah, he is. Carlisle's the new general surgeon and Esme, well she's an interior designer. She has her own business and works out of our house." I glanced around the table and saw that I wasn't the only one who noticed how Edward called his parents by their first names. I wondered what was up with that, but decided not to push it. Thankfully, no one else did either. I mean, it wasn't totally weird for him to refer to his parents by their names; I did it with Renee, both behind her back and to her face, but I always called Charlie "dad" whenever I talked directly to him. But something in Edward's voice told me there was more to it than he was letting on. "They're… the best. They're probably the kindest, most generous people I know."

I smiled at him because I hoped it would provide some comfort for the pain that was evident in his velvety voice and he gave me a small smile back. Then Emmett started talking about some sport and I lost interest in the conversation. Edward was just as animated in the conversation as Em and Jasper were so I turned to my girls to see them both staring at me with stupid shit-eating grins.

"What?" I whisper-yelled at them.

"You've totally got it bad for him, Bells," Rosalie murmured.

I scoffed, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"The hell you don't, missy!"

"Relax, Rose. Don't worry. I have a feeling that by the end of the week, the two lovebirds will be inseparable," Alice chimed in.

"Oh, yeah? Would you care to elaborate on that a little bit more?" I growled.

"Nope," she replied, popping the "p" as she said it.

I was about to say something else when the shrill sound of the bell ringing filled the cafeteria. Everyone started to file out of the room and head towards their next class.

I heard someone clear their throat and turned to see Edward holding out his hand to me. "Shall we?" he asked. Again, the boy rendered me incapable of speaking so I simply nodded and took his hand as I lead him to our Biology class, all the while trying to ignore the obvious electricity flowing between us. And somewhere in the back of my temporarily out-of-service mind, I identified the two giggling idiots in the distance behind us as Alice and Rose.

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**Again, I'm sooooooo incredibly sorry for the wait!!!!!! I promise I won't ever disappear like that again. And I'm sorry if this is just a tiny bit shorter than the other chapters. Things are definitely going to get better soon. The next chapter is going to be their first Biology class together and depending how much I can write about that will determine whether the second half of the next chapter or the one after that will be when things start picking up. Did that sentence just make any sense??? LOL idk… anyway, please, please, please review!!!!! And thanks again for being so patient!!!**

**-Nicole =]**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I can't even begin to tell you all how incredibly sorry I am for not updating in 2 months. Things got totally crazy for me for a while but when I saw all the Adds PY was getting even during my hiatus, I just had to get a new chapter out to you guys. You're all the best and I hope you can overlook my abandonment once again.**

**On another note, I saw Remember Me last night. OMG I'm still in shock. It was an amazing movie and Rob's performance was fantastic!!! So sad at the end though; I've been randomly crying about it all day.**

**Ok, enough of my drabble. On with the story. Next chapter is already in the works, and it gets much, much better. I promise. And btw, I have a little surprise for you towards the end of this chapter. How's about 2 more brief POV's?!?!?! LOL**

**Disclaimer: I keep forgetting to put this. I DO NOT OWN THEM! SM DOES! Lucky bitch. LMAO**

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**Edward's POV**

Stepping into Biology class, I couldn't keep the giddy smile off of my face. It was amazing how much the angel next to me had altered my life just a mere few hours after meeting her. After seeing her get in Jessica's face at lunch, I grew even more attracted to her, especially her unpredictable tough-cookie side.

Bella led me over to Mr. Molina and introduced us. "Molina, this is Edward Cullen. Edward, this is Molina. He's the best teacher in this rinky-dink school, which makes this place tolerable. Oh and don't call him Mister unless the situation calls for it, like if the principal is within earshot or something," she explained to me.

"You'd do well to remember that, Cullen," Molina added.

"Got it," I chuckled.

"Good. All right, there's a few empty seats. Take your pick."

Bella leaned in close to me and I discreetly inhaled her intoxicating scent._ Oh, sweet Jesus! _"There's an empty seat next to me," she whispered.

"Lead the way," I replied, smiling even bigger than before.

We sat down side by side at the lab table and I found myself mesmerized by her stunning beauty once again. Her auburn locks, her porcelain skin, the way she chewed absentmindedly on her bottom lip while she concentrated on writing down her notes. It was so cute. I wasn't sure how long I just sat there staring at her, but I snapped out of it when Molina placed a gawky microscope on our lab bench. I wasn't exactly sure what we had to do with it, since I was too preoccupied to pay attention, but I figured it had something to do with the slides that now accompanied the contraption in front of us.

My angel broke the silence then. "Do you want to start, or should I?" She looked over at me and I wondered if she had noticed me staring. The blush on her face told me she had. _So beautiful._

"Umm, you can go ahead."

She put the first slide on the microscope and adjusted the lens. After looking at it for a few seconds, she said, "It's prophase. You want to check it?"

"No, I trust you," I smiled at her.

She smiled back and pushed the microscope over to me with the next slide on it. Now that I knew what we had to do, this was going to be a breeze. I peered into the scope briefly and said, "Anaphase."

We continued like that for the next three slides and finished the lab with almost twenty minutes to spare. I decided to use the free time to try to get to know her better.

"So, how long have you lived in Forks?" I started.

She smiled at me and answered, "My whole life. How long did you live in Chicago?"

"My whole life. Are you an only child?"

Her face seemed to harden a little bit as she said, "Yeah, it's just me. You?"

"Same. So you know about my parents. What about yours?"

Again, this seemed to be a touchy subject for her and I desperately wanted to know why. _What's wrong, my angel and how can I make it better? _"Well, Renee doesn't have a career. She just bounces around from job to job, doing whatever happens to spark her interest for a while. I think she just does it to keep herself busy. She really goes stir-crazy in this town. But my dad Charlie is actually the Chief of Police," she smirked at the end. It didn't escape me that she called her mother by her name, but I became slightly distracted at the information about her father.

_Oh, crap._ "Your da-dad is the Police Ch-hief?" I gulped.

"Mmm-hmm." She watched me intently for a minute before breaking out into a fit of laughter. "God, you should see your face! Don't worry, Charlie isn't some overprotective nutcase. You're safe."

"Right. Umm, so change of topic. You play the piano?"

Her eyes finally lit up again. _That's much better._ "Yeah, but like I said, it's not my forte. I'm a lot better at the guitar."

"Wow, so I'm assuming you're really into music."

"Yeah, I guess."

I wanted to ask her more but Molina called the class to attention to go over the instructions for a project we had to do with our lab partner. The best thing about this project was that Bella and I would have to work on it together outside of school. _Thank you, God!_ I couldn't wait to spend even more time with her.

As soon as class let out, I asked her if I could walk her to her last class. She smiled and nodded. On the way to the gym, she started questioning me before I got the chance to question her.

"So, it must be difficult moving to a new school two months into senior year. It's got to suck," she stated.

"Yeah, it is difficult. The hardest part is not having my lifelong friends here," I replied.

"I bet your girlfriend misses you," she mumbled almost inaudibly.

_You sly, little kitten._ I smirked at her. "I don't have a girlfriend." Her cheeks flushed with color and she smiled to herself. I continued, "So, what about you? Your boyfriend doesn't mind me walking you to class or monopolizing all of your time today?"

"No boyfriend." _I figured that, though why such a beautiful Godsend such as yourself is single, I'll never understand._

"Well that's good to know."

She blushed even redder, if that was at all possible, as we reached the gym doors. I had Spanish in the next hallway over so I had to leave my angel.

"So, maybe I'll see you after school," she said.

"You most certainly will," I winked at her. She disappeared into the locker room and I sprinted to my class. When I got to the room, I saw the familiar face of Emmett grinning at me. He gestured to the empty seat next to him and I took it.

"Hey, bro. How was Biology?" he asked, wagging his eyebrows.

I chuckled and said, "Man, am I that obvious?"

"Dude, you were practically drooling over her during lunch. But while I'm all for you two getting together, I still have to give you the whole 'you hurt her and I'll kill you' speech." I nodded at him to continue. "Bella's like my sister, man, and even though you're clearly head over heels for her, remember that you've only known her for a few short hours. You barely know anything about her and Bella doesn't exactly like to share her life story with every Tom, Dick, and Harry who comes along. In fact, besides our group, Bella's only gotten close to one other person and the son of a bitch ended up hurting her. So I am without a doubt very protective of her."

"I hear you, Emmett. Believe me, if I ever hurt her, I'll save you the trouble of hunting me down by coming to you myself."

"All right then," he concluded.

The teacher walked in, late might I add after I'd run to arrive on time, and started class. I didn't pay attention though. I spent the whole time thinking about what Emmett had said. I promised myself that I would never hurt Bella. _I will never be the cause of her unhappiness._

After class, I followed Emmett to the parking lot and we headed over to the others. I could already see myself being best friends with them. A couple of minutes later, I saw my beautiful Bella heading towards us and the biggest smile lit up my face.

"Hey guys," Bella greeted as she walked up.

"Hi," I said.

She blushed, of course, and smiled warmly at me. "Hi."

"So, Alice and I are going to the diner to chill," Jasper said. "You guys in?"

"What do you say, Rosie?" Em asked.

"Sure, we're in. Bells?" Rosalie said.

"Sorry, but I should get home." She gave Alice a pointed look, which I noticed.

"Okay, well you're more than welcome to come, Edward," Alice mused.

"Thanks but I should get home, too. Next time, for sure," I replied.

"All right, but you're definitely having lunch with us tomorrow."

I chuckled. "Sure, Alice."

Bella and I said goodbye to the others and walked to our cars. I walked her to the door of her truck and said, "It was very nice to meet you, Bella."

Her gorgeous blush might as well have taken up a permanent residence on her lovely cheeks. "You too, Edward. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow. Have a good night." _Sweet dreams tonight, beautiful._

I watched her get in her truck and drive away. I stood there with the goofiest smile on my face and finally got in my Volvo and left.

Today was by far the best day of my life.

**Bella's POV**

I walked in the front door and was immediately assaulted with Renee's angry voice screaming at me about something.

"Isabella, that room of yours is disgusting! You take a shower and just leave your wet towel on your bedroom floor? Did I raise you to be a slob or do you just like living in filth?" she yelled at me.

Now, normally I would have gotten in her face. I would have yelled at her for going I my room. I especially would have yelled at her that she didn't raise me at all and I probably would have even gone as far as to say that she was the only filth in the house. But I didn't. I couldn't wipe the elated smile off my face.

"Isabella! Are you listening to me?!" Renee fumed.

All I did was respond mechanically, "Whatever you say, Renee."

I left her at the bottom of the stairs, no doubt confused and even angrier, and I went up to my room and locked the door. I turned on my "cleaning music" so Renee wouldn't bother me, at least for a little while, and sat down on my bed. I grabbed a pillow and hugged it to my chest, biting my bottom lip and smiling like a fool the whole time.

I really couldn't believe everything I was feeling after the day I had. It was all so confusing and startling, but it was amazingly wonderful at the same time.

One thing that stood out more than anything in my mind was Edward's smiling face. It was definitely the best day of my life.

**Alice's POV**

"All right, people! Listen up! We've got four days of plotting and conspiring ahead of us to make sure that Bella and Edward end up together by her birthday this Saturday. We've got a lot of work to do and I better not hear any complaints. Got it? Only through combined efforts of carefully manipulated situations are we going to succeed. We all want Bella to be happy, right?" I bellowed around our table at the half empty diner.

"Right!" I was answered with.

"We all agree that Edward is perfect for her, right?"

"Right!" they answered again.

"So 'Operation: Help Bella and Edward Fall in Love' is a go, RIGHT?!"

"RIGHT!!" Jazzy, Rose and Em responded for the third time.

"Then let's get to work!" I beamed at them.

I was going to see to it that this birthday was the absolute best day of my best friend's life.

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**PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!! JUST HIT THAT LITTLE GREEN BUTTON BELOW!!**

**-Nicole**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok, I'm sooooo sorry that I haven't updated in over a month!!! Things have been really crazy with school. But I only have a month of school left until the end of the semester and although I'll be taking a summer class, it won't consume more than an hour and a half a day of my time so I'll be writing lots. All right, enough chatter. Here you go. And PLEASE REVIEW!!! I've gotten so many Story Alerts but no reviews!! It makes me sad. I'd love to hear anything you have to say so please! Just say something!**

**Bella's POV**

I woke up the next morning with the same dorky smile on my face as I had the night before. I actually woke up a little early, which is something I never do, because I really wanted to make an effort to look nice today. As if reading my mind, Alice sent me a text with a few outfit suggestions for me and a reminder to "look cute." I chuckled as I read it and went to take a shower.

After I was done showering, I picked out a "cute" outfit from Alice's list: a pair of black skinny jeans and an emerald green halter top with silver ballet flats. _Thank you, pixie!_ I straightened my hair and put on a little makeup before grabbing my bag and running out to my truck. I smiled about the fact that I didn't have to see Renee before school.

I got to school about fifteen minutes earlier than usual. My eyes scanned the parking lot for any of my friends and happily came to rest on a familiar silver Volvo, whose owner was already making his way over to me. I checked my appearance in the rearview mirror before he reached my door. I started to open it but he finished opening the door for me and held out a hand to help me out.

"Good morning, Bella," he smiled.

"Good morning. You're here early," I mused.

"I had nothing better to do so why not take the time to talk to a beautiful girl before school."

I blushed- of course I blushed- and started strolling around the parking lot with him.

"So how was your night?" he asked.

"It was okay," I responded automatically. "Pretty uneventful." It was a lie. Renee totally took advantage of the fact that Charlie had to work late to tear into me for not putting a load of laundry in the wash before leaving for school yesterday and she proceeded to tell me that I was a lazy, ungrateful bitch who has her head in the clouds. She then made me do all the laundry, including changing the sheets on her and Charlie's bed and all the towels in the bathroom. After that was done, she made me wash all of my clothes by hand to "teach me responsibility" or some shit like that. All in all, it was a very long, exhausting and annoying night.

"Bella? Bella?!" Edward shook me.

"Huh?" I shook my head to clear it.

"Are you okay? You looked like you were a hundred miles away just now."

"Sorry, I kind of spaced out. Umm, how was your night?"

"Boring," he chuckled. "I pretty much just looked over that Biology project we have and called it a night. Speaking of that project, I was wondering if you wanted to get together, tomorrow maybe, to work on it?"

"Sure. Tomorrow sounds good."

"How about my place after school?" he asked nervously, which was so incredibly cute.

"I'll be there," I smiled.

"Great!" he beamed. He looked so happy.

I looked around the parking lot and noticed that everyone had arrived except the gang. I wondered where the hell they were.

Edward turned to me and said, "I hate to leave you but I have to stop by the office before class."

"Oh, that's okay. I'll just head to class then."

"Okay. I'll see you later, Bella."

I smiled at him as he went off in the direction of the office. I started walking to class but was stopped by an annoying voice calling me.

"Swan!"

I turned around and saw Jessica stalking towards me. _Here we go again._ "What do you want?"

"You think you're just going to get away with what you said to me yesterday?"

"It's not my fault you can't handle the truth."

"Look, I'm going to say this one more time. Stay away from Edward Cullen!"

I snorted at her. "Listen, bitch. He doesn't want you. He'll never want you. So get over it."

"Oh and you think he wants your ugly ass?"

I smirked and said, "I don't know. But who's the one he invited over to his house tomorrow? Oh, right. That'd be me!"

She glared at me. "You little hussy!" And then she slapped me hard across the face.

_That's it._

She went to slap me again but I was too quick for her. I brought my hand up and my fist collided with her nose. I heard a distinct crack and smiled internally. Externally, I was fuming.

"You broke my nose!" she screamed at me with blood seeping through the hand she had over her face.

"Good. Maybe now it will actually match your ugly face!"

She ran off and I made my way straight to the principal's office. I knocked and entered when I heard him say to come in.

"Mr. Cassidy, do you have a minute?"

"Sure, Miss Swan," he said, barely looking up. "What can I do for you?"

"Jessica Stanley just attacked me in the parking lot. She verbally assaulted me and then hit me."

He finally looked up at me and I motioned to my cheek where I could still feel the sting of the slap. His eyes widened slightly, telling me it was clearly visible.

"I'm telling you this because I defended myself when she tried to hit me again and there's a chance that she'll be needing another nose job to replace the one her parents got her for her Sweet Sixteen," I finished as I smiled sheepishly at him.

He sighed, "I'll deal with Miss Stanley later. You can serve a detention with Mr. Molina before school tomorrow morning. He's going to need help preparing frog specimen for tomorrow's lab."

Detention with Molina I could definitely do. "Yes, sir. Thank you for your time."

"Anytime. Just try not to break anymore noses, Miss Swan."

"I'll try."

I left and made my way to class, getting there just in time. I looked back towards Jasper's seat and saw it was empty. Just as I was starting to wonder where he was, he walked in just after the bell rang, which earned him a disapproving look from the teacher. I gave him a questioning look and he just shrugged.

Class went by quickly and as soon as the bell rang, I was next to him.

"Where were you guys this morning?"

"Uh, Rose's car gave us problems on the way here," he lied.

"Bullshit. Rose keeps her BMW in perfect condition. You're lying."

"Am not. C'mon let's… What the hell happened to your face?"

"Ugh, it's still red? Her Royal Bitchiness got in my face again," I told him as we stepped out of the classroom. I saw a mess of bronze hair waiting for me by the door. "Hi, Edward."

"Hello, Bell--what happened to you?!" he demanded frantically.

"God, is it really that bad?" Luckily, Alice always made sure I carried a compact mirror with me so I pulled it out to look at myself. I gasped when I saw a bright red handprint on my face along with a slightly darkened line across my cheekbone. "Fucking bitch," I mumbled.

"Bella, what happened?" Edward asked sweetly, concern heavy in his voice.

"Jessica got in my face about you again after you left earlier. I might have mentioned you inviting me over tomorrow, completely leaving out the whole Biology project part of it, and she got severely pissed off, so she slapped me. When she went to do it again, her nose may have had a run-in with my fist, successfully breaking it," I explained proudly.

Edward gaped at me, a smile pulling at his lips. "Is that all?"

"And I got a detention with Molina before school tomorrow but that's nothing. He'll make it fun."

"Well, not only am I sorry I missed that, but I'm also sorry you got hurt."

"It's no big deal. Really."

"Your cheekbone is probably bruised," he said softly as he ran his fingertips lightly over the sensitive area.

I met his eyes and got lost in them for an immeasurable moment.

Just then, Jasper cleared his throat and said we were going to be late to class if we all didn't get a move on. He walked off leaving Edward and I alone.

The blush spread across my cheeks faster than wildfire. I ducked my head away from Edward's hand and he chuckled.

"C'mon. Let's go," he said.

He walked me to my next class, his hand sometimes resting on the small of my back. That surprised me, but in a really good way. Alice was waiting for me outside of class but kept to herself when she saw Edward with me.

Edward noticed her and said to me, "I'll let you go. I can see Alice is waiting for you. I'll see you after class."

Before I could say anything, he gave me his crooked smile and walked off. I smiled and made my way over to Alice.

"Hey, Bella," she said cheerfully.

"Hey." I was still in a daze.

"What happened to your face?"

That snapped me out of it.

"Jeez, you'd think word would travel fast around here considering this school is the size of a ballet studio. Jessica slapped me and I punched her. Trust me; she got the short end of the stick. Help me out with this, will you?" I said, pointing at my face irritably.

"Sure thing, firecracker."

I rolled my eyes at her and we went inside. Our teacher was still out so we basically had a free period again.

I told Alice what happened between me and Jessica while she worked to cover the bruise. She laughed hysterically when I explained it to her. She managed to somewhat cover the mark on my cheek and told me that the redness of the slap was finally fading.

Edward was there waiting for me after every class. It was so sweet. He was there again after fourth period to walk me to math. There was a comfortable silence floating between us and I couldn't help but smile to myself.

"What are you smiling at?" he asked, smiling back at me.

"Oh, nothing. This is just nice," I replied, blushing furiously.

"Yes, it is."

We got to my classroom and I turned to say goodbye to him, but he pulled me inside.

"What're you doing?" I asked.

He ignored my question and went to the teacher and said, "Hello. I'm Edward Cullen. I'm new here and I was just transferred into this class this morning."

The teacher took his slip and told him to take a seat anywhere. I still couldn't believe he switched into my class.

"What?" he asked when he saw me staring at him.

"You actually switched into my class."

"Yeah. I told you I would if it was possible," he smiled at me.

"Well, you're in luck. There's an empty seat next to me in this class, too." I walked to my seat and he followed me.

"Why do you always sit alone?" he asked, his forehead creased in confusion.

I gave him a sideways glance as we sat down. "Because no one likes me," I whispered. "But it's okay. The rest of the gang is enough for me."

"How could anyone not like you?" he mumbled mostly to himself, but I heard and gave him an answer.

"Trust me, Edward. They have their reasons."

He snapped his head towards me and I busied myself with the work on the board. I tried to ignore his stare for the rest of the period until the bell rang.

"Bella, I--" he started.

"Look, I don't want to fight with you. Can we just forget it, please?"

"Sure," he sighed and then added, "For now…"

We went to English Lit. and were enjoying ourselves again until we had to take a pop quiz, which interrupted our comfortable silence. Class ended quickly and we eagerly made our way to lunch, excited that we were now free to talk to each other as much as we wanted.

We walked in and headed towards the bear known as Emmett. As soon as we walked up, Jasper stood up.

"Hey, Bells. You ready?" he asked.

"Ready for what?" I countered.

"Don't tell me you forgot?!" He waved his guitar case in front of me. "You have to send it out by Friday, and I need a day or two to make sure it's perfect. Therefore, we need to do this today."

"No, the deadline is next week… isn't it?"

"Yeah, a week from today so we've got to get it done and mail it before next Tuesday."

I racked my brain trying to remember if I had planned this with Jazz today, but I honestly couldn't remember. I sadly turned to Edward and said, "Edward, I'm so sorry but I have to go do something with Jazz during lunch."

"It's okay, Bella," he assured me, but I could see the disappointment and curiosity burning in his eyes.

"I'll see you in Bio, okay?"

"Okay. See you later," he smiled.

Jazz and I walked out and he asked, "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's finish this demo," I said, and we walked to one of the music rooms.

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**Oooo, I'll bet you're wondering what everyone's "reasons" are for hating Bella, huh??? Well, you'll find out eventually. Next chapter gets good though. Our favorite heartthrob finds out something very interesting about "his angel" as he already calls her. LOL**

**IF YOU REVIEW, I'LL SEND YOU ROBERT PATTINSON..... well, ok not really but you get the idea!**


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